Bee Wolf Wasp

Beewolves (genus Philanthus), also known as bee-hunters or bee-killer wasps, are solitary, predatory wasps, most of which prey on bees, hence their common name. The adult females dig tunnels in the ground for nesting, while the territorial males mark twigs and other objects with pheromones to claim the territory from competing males.

comments (8)

morpheme

Lion

To ID you'll need to get down to the species level. There are quite a few - 135, but you may be able to narrow it down by your location. Posted 9 years ago
1. Msalicat
  
  Giant Tortoise
  
  I've gone into species and wasps and typed in Philanthus (which is from Wiki) and it doesn't call up anything :( What am I doing wrong? Posted 9 years ago
2. 1. morpheme
    
    Lion
    
    Philianthus is the genus, which is one step up in classification from species. There are 135 species of bee wasp in the genus Philianthus. Posted 9 years ago
  2. 1. Msalicat
      
      Giant Tortoise
      
      I've looked through some of these and I THINK this is a European beewolf although they are found in North Africa - maybe they headed south? :) We are in the Northern Cape :) Posted 9 years ago
    2. 1. WildFlower
        
        Lion
        
        Philanthus triangulum is found in South Africa.
        http://zipcodezoo.com/index.php/Philanthus_triangulum Posted 9 years ago
      2. Msalicat
        
        Giant Tortoise
        
        Thank you for this Posted 9 years ago

Mark Ridgway

Lion

I've never heard of Beewolves. Thanks for sharing this. Posted 9 years ago
1. Msalicat
  
  Giant Tortoise
  
  I'd never heard of them either but tried to identify the species so googles bee eating wasps in the northern cape and found it :) Posted 9 years ago

The European beewolf

"Philanthus triangulum", commonly known as the European beewolf or the bee-eating philanthus, is a solitary wasp that lives in Europe and Northern Africa.

Info 7 3

Similar species: Wasps, Bees, Sawflies And Ants

Species identified by Msalicat